ESGO 2011: Early Treatment in Ovarian Cancer Relapses
Dr Gordon Rustin talks to ecancer.tv about early treatment of relapsed ovarian cancer and presents an update on data originally presented at ASCO and published in The Lancet last year. His study shows that early, or pre-emptive, treatment was no better than delaying treatment until patients had symptoms. If there is no difference in the survival rate, then the overall quality of life of the patient will decrease as they are given more chemotherapy over the course of their life. This, of course, has a negative effect on the patient’s quality of life. Dr Rustin mentions that this problem occurs because of the varying definitions of the term “cured”. Definitions of the term vary geographically and cause patients to misunderstand potential outcomes with their treatment and what it will mean for their future. www.ecancermedicalscience.com